考研英语阅读训练:每周两篇时政阅读01：如何拯救欧元

Italy and Spain are under attack not because their finances have suddenly deteriorated, but because investors fret that they may be forced to default. For this loss of confidence, blame the pretence. Europe’s leaders have repeatedly denied that Greece is insolvent (when everyone knows it is), failing to draw a line between it and the likes of Spain and Italy, which are solvent but short of liquidity. The excuse is that a Greek restructuring may cause contagion. In fact denying the inevitable has undermined pledges about solvent governments.

小编注解：fail to do  未能做某事  draw a line  划清界限

意大利和西班牙现在的问题并不是因为两国财政突然恶化，而是投资者们担心他们可能会被迫违约，由于缺乏足够的信心，他们谴责这种掩盖事实真相的行为。欧元区领导人不断否认希腊即将破产（但每个人都知道希腊即将破产的事实），没有将希腊同西班牙和意大利划清界限，让人们意识到这两国只是缺乏流动性，但依然有偿还债务能力。欧元区领导人总是以希腊重组有传染性而破坏其他有偿还能力政府的信用。

Instead of austerity and pretence, a credible rescue should start with growth and, where it is unavoidable, a serious restructuring of debt. Europe must make an honest judgment about which side of the line countries are on. Greece, which is unambiguously insolvent, ought to have a hard but orderly write-down. The latest, inadequate plan for a second Greek bail-out, agreed at a summit in July, should be thrown away and rewritten. But all the other euro members (and on present numbers Portugal is just about in the solvent camp) should be defended with overwhelming financial firepower. All the troubled economies, solvent or insolvent, need a renewed programme of structural reform and liberalisation. Freeing up services and professions, privatising companies, cutting bureaucracy and delaying retirement will create conditions for renewed growth—and that is the best way to reduce debts.

小编注解：restructuring of debt  债务重组  bail-out  应急措施  free up  空出来，削减

除了停止财政紧缩政策和掩盖事实真相外，还应该实施促进经济增长的可靠救援政策，无法避免的是债务重组。欧元区必须做出诚实判断哪些国家救援。毫无疑问，希腊已经破产，应该坚决有序地确认损失。七月欧盟峰会上通过的针对希腊的第二次救援计划应该废弃重订。而对于其他欧元区成员国（葡萄牙是有偿还能力的其中一员）需提供一个可靠的经济支持。最后，所有欧元区国家，无论是否有偿还债务能力，都需要进行结构化改革并实现自由化。削减政府部门，使公司私有化，减少官员编制和延长退休年龄将为经济增长创造条件，而这些也是减少债务最好的办法。

How to prevent contagion? A Greek default would threaten many banks, not just in Greece: this week the markets took aim at French banks that hold southern European debt. Moreover, solvent countries need a breathing-space to push through reforms. That points to agreeing to two measures at the same time: a scheme to shore up the banks, which may take months to put into practice, and a rock-solid promise to support solvent governments, which has to be immediate.

小编注解：take aim at  瞄准；盯着；注意到；以…为目标  push through  完成；促成；排除困难办好事

如何减少危机传染？希腊债务违约将威胁很多银行，这些不仅仅包括希腊境内的。这周市场将目标放在了持有南欧债务的法国银行身上。此外，有偿还能力的国家需要有合适的空间来完成改革。这就意味着有两个措施需同步进行：一是有个框架来支撑银行，这可能需要几个月的时间，第二个就是尽快有绝对可靠的承诺来支持有债务偿还能力的政府。

The recapitalisation of Europe’s banks must be based on proper stress tests. Some banks may be able to raise money in the equity markets, but the most vulnerable will need government help. Core countries like Germany and the Netherlands have enough cash to look after their own banks, but peripheral governments may need euro-zone money. Ideally that would come from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), whose overhaul was the most useful thing to emerge from the July summit. But it also makes sense to set up a euro-zone bank fund, together with a euro-zone bank-resolution authority. That is part of the longer-term institution building. However, the ECB could help the banks by giving a commitment to provide unlimited liquidity for as long as it is required, rather than a rolling six months, as now.

对欧洲银行的资本重组应建立在谨慎试验的基础上。有些银行可能有能力在证券市场集资，但更多的脆弱银行则需要政府的帮助。像德国和荷兰这样的核心国家有足够资金支持本国银行，但外围区国家则需要欧元区支持。欧洲金融稳定基金（European Financial Stability Facility，EFSF）是最理想的援助渠道，对该基金的全面了解是七月峰会浮现出的最有用的东西。但是专门设立一项欧元区银行基金和银行解题基金当局也未尝不可。当然这是一项长期建设工程。但是，欧洲中央银行也应该承诺对那些需要帮助的银行提供无限制的流动性，而不是现在所说的六个月时间。

The great firewall of Europe

欧洲经济防火墙

None of this will work unless the Europeans create a firewall around the solvent governments. That means shoring up euro-zone sovereign debt. Spain and Italy owe